Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to personal mobility vehicles and, more specifically, to an electric scooter with a foot brake assembly.
Description of the Related Art
The use of personal mobility vehicles, such as scooters, has become a popular recreational activity as well as useful means of personal transportation. Scooters have become popular among many age groups and there are many different scooter variations and scooter designs. Conventional scooters have at least two wheels and a steering mechanism. Scooter designs have become more compact and convenient, and some scooters have folding mechanisms allowing the user to easily store or carry the scooter. In order to allow a user to slow or stop a scooter, some scooters include a braking mechanism. With the increased popularity of scooters, variations of the conventional scooters have gained popularity as well, including motorized scooters.
With the use of electric or motorized scooters, the use of conventional braking methods is undesirable. The known brake mechanisms may not offer enough frictional resistance to stop a scooter wheel being driven by an electric motor as desired by scooter users. Additionally, if the scooter wheel used for applying the braking forces is the same wheel which is driven directly by the motor, using a conventional brake may cause serious damage to the motor or drive components. Using other more complicated and larger braking mechanisms for electric scooters would add additional cost and complexity to the scooters, which are popular in due part to their relative low price and simplistic convenience. Thus there is a need to provide an apparatus to allow for effective and convenient braking for electric scooters at a low cost.